Day of the Cobra
| Day of the Cobra | |
|---|---|
 Italian poster for Day of the Cobra | |
| Directed by | Enzo G. Castellari |
| Produced by | Turi Vasile[1] |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Story by | Aldo Lado[1] |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Paolo Vasile |
| Cinematography | Giovanni Bergamini[1] |
| Edited by | Gianfranco Amicucci[1] |
Production company |
Laser[1] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 95 minutes[1] |
| Country | Italy[1] |
| Box office | ₤489 million |
Day of the Cobra (Italian: Il giorno del Cobra) is a 1980 Italian poliziottesco film directed by Enzo G. Castellari.
Production
Director Enzo G. Castellari initially approached Vasile with a script written by Vasile's son. The boxing film project was shelved and Vasile offered Castellari to direct Day of the Cobra.[1] Day of the Cobra was written by Aldo Lado who was initially going to direct the film.[1] Lado's story was initially set right after World War II in Trieste.[2] Castellari's film is set in the present day and he imagined the film a "homage to Chandler.[2]
Castellari cast many actors who he had previously worked with, including Franco Nero and Massimo Vanni.[2] He also cast some of his family members such as his brother Enio Girolami and daughter Stefania.[2]
Day of the Cobra was shot on location in San Francisco, Genoa and at Incir-de Paolis in Rome.[1]
Cast
- Franco Nero: Larry Stanzani
- Sybil Danning: Brenda
- William Berger: Godschmidt
- Mario Maranzana: Cases
- Licinia Lentini: Lola Alberti
- Enio Girolami: Mastino
- Massimo Vanni: Beltrame
- Carlo Gabriel Sparanero: Tim
- Romano Puppo: Silvestri
Release
Day of the Cobra was released on August 12, 1980.[1] The film grossed a total of 489,000,000 Italian lira on it's domestic release.[1] The score of the film by Paolo Vasile was released by Cinevox.[1]
Reception
According to the German book Der Terror führt Regie: "Day of the Cobra is technically pure cinema. The film suffers a bit in its pandering to American viewing habits."[3] Online film database AllMovie gave the film two stars out of five, stating that a "key flaw is the maddening story line, which manages to be over-complicated and half-baked all at once." and that "elements of the story simply rehash other, better thrillers, like The French Connection."[4] The review noted that the film contains "a few worthwhile action set pieces. The rooftop chase that opens the film is quite exciting and there is also a memorably tongue-in-cheek scene where Nero dukes it out with a transvestite in an empty disco. However, the viewer must wade through a lot of clichés and dull passages to get to these moments"[4]
Notes
References
- Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. McFarland. ISBN 0786469765.